Ordering

Q. How do I order?
Do I have to order via the internet?

A. We certainly encourage you to order from our website whenever possible; orders from the website help us keep our prices low due to decreased labor cost. However, we understand that sometimes ordering from the website is not possible, so we do have a couple options available to you:

Q. Are your ordering pages secure? Can I send you my credit card info in confidence?

A. Shopping security at Mouthpiece Express.com is absolutely 100% guaranteed. We understand that shopping online can feel risky and uncertain at times. Where does your information go? How can you be sure that someone out there with a computer can't intercept your credit card numbers? Your credit card security is our highest priority, Mouthpiece Express.com has taken several steps to ensure that your payment information is processed confidentially and accurately.

Mouthpiece Express.com servers use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), an advanced encryption technology that works with all modern browsers. This encryption makes it absolutely impossible for unauthorized parties to read any information that you send us.

So, there's no risk! In fact, shopping online at Mouthpiece Express.com is statistically safer than using your credit card at a restaurant or department store. We trust you'll find yourself appreciating the fun and convenience of shopping at home.

Q. What about backorders? What happens if I have backordered items in my order?

A. We attempt to keep as complete and well-rounded inventory as possible. However, backorders occur from time to time despite our best efforts. The products of some manufacturers are particularly popular -- these manufacturers sometimes experience considerable delays in providing us with product to sell to you. Therefore, we make no claims or guarantees about availability by posting products for sale on Mouthpiece Express.com. Please review these policies about backorders:

If some of the items in your order are backordered, but other items are in stock, we hold the in-stock items until all backordered items arrive and ship all items together. One shipment saves you money, as the shipping courier charges each time they deliver. We will ship items separately only if you request it -- if you request separate shipping you will be charged for shipping for each shipment.

We will inform you via email of backorders as soon as possible after the date of your order. We will estimate the arrival time of the backordered items, but please note that the estimate is not a guarantee of delivery time. The estimate is based on those suppliers' history of delivering like items. Additional delays can and do occur.

If your order includes backordered items and you requested premium shipping (such as UPS 3 Day Select, 2nd Day Air or Next Day Air), we will ship to you using that shipping service unless you request otherwise.

Payment

Q. What forms of payment can I use?

A. We accept the following forms of payment:

Visa

Mastercard

Discover

American Express

PayPal ("Verified" Paypal accounts ONLY)

Credit Card by fax

Purchase Orders from schools and government (US only)

More info for PayPal customers

We must receive your cleared payment notification from PayPal before we ship. If you are ordering special order items, we must receive your payment before we order those items.

If your Paypal account is not verified and we receive a Paypal payment from you, we will cancel your order and return your payment. You may reinstate your order by verifying your Paypal account and then you may resubmit your payment.

More info about Purchase Orders

We accept purchase orders from school and approved institions ONLY. If you are ordering by purchase order, call us at 540-989-8848.

If you're not familiar with PayPal, they allow you to set up an account with your email address that allows you to send and receive money. The great thing about PayPal is that you don't need a credit card to use their services, and it's free! Visit PayPal.com for further details.

Please note that we accept Paypal payments from "verified" Paypal accounts only. Again, details are available on the PayPal.com website.

When you have your PayPal account setup, place your order with us via our website, and select PayPal as the method of payment. Then go to the PayPal site and follow their directions to send your payment to us at <sales@mouthpieceexpress.com>. PayPal will notify us of your payment, and that's it! We'll process your order!

If you have further questions about how to use PayPal to pay for your order, contact us.

Q. When do you charge my credit card?

A. For orders of stock mouthpieces and accessories, we charge your credit card at the time we ship your order. Since custom mouthpiece orders are non-cancellable, we charge those orders at the time the order is placed. This includes gold plated mouthpieces, custom mouthpieces, and special orders.

A. Mouthpieces with special plating and/or finishes are NON-CANCELABLE and NON-RETURNABLE. Please read our plating policies before ordering mouthpieces with special plating or finishes.

Q. What do I do if there's damage during shipping?

A. Your merchandise was checked and confirmed perfect at the time of shipment. If there was any damage during shipping, contact us IMMEDIATELY! Click here to contact us.

IMPORTANT! You MUST save all packing materials for examination by the shipper. We will be unable to issue you a refund or exchange for damaged merchandise if you do not follow these instructions.

Q. How soon do you ship after I place my order?

A. We do our best to ship as many orders as possible every day, but we do not guarantee same day shipment. If time is a factor, order as early in the day as possible, or call us at 540-989-8848 if you have specific questions or concerns.

Q. Can you tell me how much shipping costs?

A. Our system automatically calculates shipping fees based on your address, so we cannot send you that information. Here's how to find out the shipping fee for items without actually ordering:

Go to our website and add the items you wish to order to your "shopping cart" on our website.

Click the "Checkout" button.

On the "Welcome, please sign in" page, click the "Checkout" button in the box that says "Proceed Directly to Checkout."

On the next page, type your address and click the "Continue" button. On the next page, you will see the shipping fees.

To cancel without checking out, just click on "Cart Contents" in the upper right of the screen, then click all of the "check boxes" under "Remove" and then click the "Update Cart" button.

Q. I'm an international customer. Can you mark my shipment "gift" or "samples" or include an invoice with a lower purchase price?

A. Sorry, we just can't do that. To misrepresent a shipment for purposes of avoiding or reducing customs taxes is a form of mail fraud.

PayPal Refunded - Customer has been issued a refund through PayPal for a cancelled/returned item.

Pending - Order has been placed by the customer and is awaiting to be processed by MouthpieceExpress.

Plating - Awaiting Mouthpiece - Backordered product has been ordered and is waiting to be plated.

Plating - Processing - Order has been placed and is waiting in our plating department.

Processing - Order has been placed and is waiting to be pulled from our warehouse.

Pulled - The order has been processed and the item has been pulled from our warehouse to be shipped.

Returned - Item has been returned by the customer.

RMA Number Issued - The customer would like to return an order and requested a Return Merchandise Authorization Number.

Shipped - The package has been shipped! Be sure to check your account/email for a tracking number when available.

Miscellaneous

Sometimes I can't get through on the phone.

We are not a large MEGAbox shop - We are big enough to offer a great selection and great custom services, but not so big that we don't care about your order! While our size helps us keep a close relationship with our customers, it also keeps our small staff very busy and sometimes hard to reach by phone.
If you can't get through by phone, try by email. We are an internet business so we spend a good part of the day in front of a computer screen and shipping orders. We try to respond to emails quickly during the day but it could sometimes take 24 hours to get a response. We are human so if you don't get a response within a reasonable amount of time please try again.

Q. I'm an AOL user, and I have trouble using your site. What gives?

A. AOL built-in browser is not as robust as other browsers, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. The good news is, you can use any browser you want with AOL. So you can download Chrome or Firefox for free, install it, log on to AOL, start up your new browser, and surf away!

Q. I sent you a message but didn't receive a reply. What's up?

A. We do our best to answer every email. Like many folks, you may be using a spam filter to delete junk email. Some spam filters think any email address starting with "sales" is spam. You might wish to check your junk mail folder. Or, just add "sales@mouthpieceexpress.com" to your address book so that your email program always sees our emails as "real."

Please note: We have seen this problem particularly with AOL users.

Q. How do you guys handle product reviews?

While we appreciate and encourage all thoughtful comments and reviews, it is our policy to only allow less than neutral reviews from customers who have purchased the reviewed product directly from us while using their account. We feel that without this policy, there can be unfair snipping or libel actions leading to skewed or unjustified reviews.

Q. What are "Companion Products?"

A. "Companion Products" are items which we reccomend purchasing along with certain products. Usually these products will not work properly without their "Companion Product." e.g. A mouthpiece that has been "Cut for Sleeves" will not work without a Sleeve. Therefore we have Sleeves as "Companion Products."

Because of the nature of "Companion Products" they are often drastically discounted! Because of this discount we only allow one of each "Companion Product" per main product.

Q. Do you have a print catalog you can send me?

A. We decided to publish our entire catalog ONLY on our website, for two important reasons: 1) we can hold expenses down (and pass the savings on to you), and 2) so that we can keep our prices and product lines current and update the catalog instantly whenever we want. A print catalog is usually obsolete before its even mailed.

Q. Can my school get educational pricing on new instruments or large orders of accessories?

A. You can send your vital information to us in confidence, because our ordering pages are hosted on secure servers that encrypt your data during transmission.

Privacy is certainly an issue for anyone using the internet these days. We're concerned, too, because we're internet users, just like you. Here's our privacy policy:

We never distribute your personal information to any outside parties. Never ever. We do have an opt-in email list through which we may occasionally send you newsletters and special information via e-mail, but we promise not to spam you. If you'd prefer not to receive newsletters from us, simply notify us, and we'll remove you from our mailing list, no questions asked.

Q. Who are you guys, anyway? Where are you located?

A. We are Mouthpiece Express, LLC. We're musicians, just like you, and we've been serving musicians worldwide since 1999. We are located in Roanoke, VA. Here is our address and phone number: